Battling 101 Q&A

[Philip7086]

Hello, and welcome to the newer and even more improved Battling 101! This new system should be much more straightforward and efficient (at the expense of the tutoring staff's time and effort, but it's worth it because we just love you guys that much). All the instructions can be found in the Round 47 Signups topic, but I will leave this topic open for general questions anyways, since people seem to always have them.

Summary of the new system:

Instead of asking you to sign up in one of three time slots, we are now asking you to simply post what timezone you live in (in GMT), and what hours you are normally available to be tutored. We will then match you with a tutor who shares at least two hours availability with you, which we can do because we compiled a list of all our tutors' availabilities. The queue system will still be in effect, so signup threads will not be terminal, but they may be closed for short periods of time to allow for the queues to clear up.

Keep in mind the prerequisite for signing up as a tutee still stands; you must have made at least 15 posts total on at least 10 separate days before signing up. This is to provide proof that you are actually an active member of our community, and will not disappear once a tutor is assigned to you.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in this thread, and a member of the tutoring staff will answer as soon as possible. Thanks, and enjoy!

NOTE: This is NOT a signup thread, nor is it a thread to post your intent to sign up. Also, please do not ask when the signups will be open - they will be reopened when most of the currently signed up tutees complete their round. Users who ask these questions in the thread are subject to an infraction. You have been warned!

 

[YTP]

Am I allowed to sign up for a friend that I KNOW wants to be in this?

 

[Philip7086]

Am I allowed to sign up for a friend that I KNOW wants to be in this?

Unfortunately, your friend must sign up himself, sorry.

 

[Congratulations]

Sorry but im kinda new so if I am going to sign up what do I need to post I will edit delte this if needed I know I need a group I live in GMT -8 so I would need to be in group B?

 

[Despotar]

Lol sorry for this post,
but does tutering start tonight? if not, then. when?

 

[Philip7086]

Sorry but im kinda new so if I am going to sign up what do I need to post I will edit delte this if needed I know I need a group I live in GMT -8 so I would need to be in group B?

Note to all users: YOUR TIMEZONE AND TIME SLOTS ARE TWO SEPARATE THINGS!!!

The purpose of a sorting people into time slots rather than timezones, is because we realize that a lot of people have different sleeping schedules, and general high activity hours. For instance, if you live in GMT-5, but you usually stay up all night and spend all day sleeping, then telling us that you live in "GMT-5" is of no use to us. Please figure out what time you normally are on, convert it to GMT-5 (since that is just an arbitrary time we decided to use for reference), and post your application in the correct topic.

Lol sorry for this post,
but does tutering start tonight? if not, then. when?

Sign-ups have already started, if you haven't noticed. Once enough people sign up, we will close the topics and start assigning tutees to tutors.

 

[Ffancrzy]

Hey Phillip, are there going to be tutee tournaments like there used to be, or is the lack of a round based system going to do away with that?

 

[Despotar]

Sign-ups have already started, if you haven't noticed. Once enough people sign up, we will close the topics and start assigning tutees to tutors.

I know that! When do the tuters start training the students? tonight?

 

[Flamewheeler]

Is there any set amount of tutees being accepted per round? I ask because I didn't notice the new slots posted and I noticed that mine (2pm-10pm EST) has a lot more people siging up compared to the other two. I just want to get in...for once.

 

[Super]

This new system, its, its beautiful. It not only alleviates the problem with people from some timezones getting in and others not making it, but it also allows for more activity and quicker tutoring by assigning people based on time. Well done sirs.

The post count requirement seems eh though. Now people are gonna post for the sake of getting in, and its no indicator whether they're active or not. But, eh well, probably I'm complaining because I don't have 15 recent posts. :P

 

[metalrush]

If the tutors are all filled at one time, how would i know when they are availabe, or is this sort of like rotation of tutors?

 

[Ffancrzy]

If the tutors are all filled at one time, how would i know when they are availabe, or is this sort of like rotation of tutors?

Its a rotation, if the thread isn't locked you there are some available. That said.

On top of these new Time Slots and Personalized Rounds systems, we have also decided to add a new prerequisite for signing up as a tutee. In order to receive a tutor, you must have made at least 15 posts throughout Smogon in the last month before signing up. This is to provide proof that you are actually an active member of our community, and will not disappear once a tutor is assigned to you.

so yea...

 

[Philip7086]

Hey Phillip, are there going to be tutee tournaments like there used to be, or is the lack of a round based system going to do away with that?

At the moment, there are no plans for a tutee tournament. That may change in the future, once things settle down a bit. If we do host one in the future, we will find a way to get around the "lack of a round based system." Off the top of my head, the best way to do that would be to make entry open only to those who recently finished their session with a tutor.

I know that! When do the tuters start training the students? tonight?

Like I said, once enough people sign up, we will start matching them up with tutors. I'm not sure how you expect me to give you anything more specific than that. Please be patient.

Is there any set amount of tutees being accepted per round? I ask because I didn't notice the new slots posted and I noticed that mine (2pm-10pm EST) has a lot more people siging up compared to the other two. I just want to get in...for once.

There are no more "rounds". You sign up, and once a tutor is available, he will take the next tutee in line to get tutored. We will close sign-ups if the queue gets too backed up, seeing as those who sign up at that point might not even be active anymore by the time a tutor gets to them.

This new system, its, its beautiful. It not only alleviates the problem with people from some timezones getting in and others not making it, but it also allows for more activity and quicker tutoring by assigning people based on time. Well done sirs.

The post count requirement seems eh though. Now people are gonna post for the sake of getting in, and its no indicator whether they're active or not. But, eh well, probably I'm complaining because I don't have 15 recent posts. :P

First and foremost, thank you ^_^. Second, I can see your concern about post-count determining activity. In any case, I do not think 15 posts in a month is too much to ask for. However, I will talk to the other Battling 101 staff about better possible criteria for measuring activity.

If the tutors are all filled at one time, how would i know when they are availabe, or is this sort of like rotation of tutors?

You basically sign up to "wait in line." Tutors will keep taking the next in line until it is your turn. At that point, your tutor will contact you, so you have nothing to worry about.

 

[TEzeon]

I may not post too often, but I have been a member since early 2009 on smogon and I have lurked quite a bit... I don't think post count is the best way to measure activity since people such as myself do not post much at all, even if they frequently read post's etc.

Also, there must be at least 10 people who signed up to the forum in the past 2 weeks just to sign up for this program.

 

[Philip7086]

I may not post too often, but I have been a member since early 2009 on smogon and I have lurked quite a bit... I don't think post count is the best way to measure activity since people such as myself do not post much at all, even if they frequently read post's etc.

Also, there must be at least 10 people who signed up to the forum in the past 2 weeks just to sign up for this program.

Noted. We'll see what we can do about this.

 

[Despotar]

Like I said, once enough people sign up, we will start matching them up with tutors. I'm not sure how you expect me to give you anything more specific than that. Please be patient.

OK, sorry.

 

[Splintered Soul]

I may not post too often, but I have been a member since early 2009 on smogon and I have lurked quite a bit... I don't think post count is the best way to measure activity since people such as myself do not post much at all, even if they frequently read post's etc.

Also, there must be at least 10 people who signed up to the forum in the past 2 weeks just to sign up for this program.

I'm in the same boat here, but the program in the past at least has opened up new slots pretty often, and I don't mind waiting a couple weeks for new slots to come open. I'll just have to find someone to talk to on here. ;)

 

[VKCA]

You can't sign up for two zones can you?

 

[Wharz0r]

I'm in the same boat here, but the program in the past at least has opened up new slots pretty often, and I don't mind waiting a couple weeks for new slots to come open. I'll just have to find someone to talk to on here. ;)

Woot...Same boat...Well..lets see how this turns out ^^..I really want to be picked but....well...if i cant...it would suck lol, Knowledge is something that must be kept, but instead, spread to anyone who wishes it

 

[Philip7086]

You can't sign up for two zones can you?

Sorry, you must pick one time slot. If your availability changes while your name is still in the queue, then please contact one of the tutoring staff to move your profile to a different slot.

Also, I have spoken with Jimbo on the issue of the 15 post minimum. We feel like it is not too much to ask for. We are dedicating a lot of time and effort into helping you, and the least you could do in return is show your activity on the Smogon community through posting. If you think you have a better method of measuring activity, then I'm all ears. Thank you for understanding.

 

[Exarius]

Is it possible to give the timezones in GMT too? For those who have quite a big difference in time zones compared to EST, it might be easier to do it when you can just check the GMT times, and generally for europeans (and anyone else east of England), it's easier to find the correct thread with 0-4 hours difference to GMT than with 5-9 hour difference to EST.

 

[Philip7086]

Is it possible to give the timezones in GMT too? For those who have quite a big difference in time zones compared to EST, it might be easier to do it when you can just check the GMT times, and generally for europeans (and anyone else east of England), it's easier to find the correct thread with 0-4 hours difference to GMT than with 5-9 hour difference to EST.

Although it is very easy to figure out your Time Slot with simple adding or subtracting, I have updated the OP with some reference points for your convenience.

 

[Silent Storm]

Although it is very easy to figure out your Time Slot with simple adding or subtracting, I have updated the OP with some reference points for your convenience.

Thanks for doing that. Lol I posted in the wrong threads >_<.

 

[Terraquaza]

should i post here if i want to be tutored? My english is not well. I´m german

 

[Philip7086]

should i post here if i want to be tutored? My english is not well. I´m german

No, post in one of the signup threads.